Saiswaroopa Iyer

Program Lead, Centre for Writing and Publishing @INDICAorg
Authored 10 Books(Latest - Saranyu : Surya's Wife)
Streeshakthi Awardee
Views here strictly my own

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

Dropped into @PadhegaIndia_ 's wonderful store yesterday.

And yes, I signed those many copies! 😳

Order your copies from https://t.co/rgnjtUBHTC
and availa a great discount too on account of #PIBookUtsav

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

Not every short fiction writer wants to write a novel, but every novelist can benefit from short story writing.
https://t.co/JLIWDnem3I

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

This is what grok says 😃 :

I would pitch you as Sulabha.She is a relatively minor but very distinctive figure in the Mahabharata (Shanti Parva): a wandering female sage, a brahmavadini, who arrives at King Janaka’s court and holds her own in a long philosophical debate on the Self, dharma, and liberation. She is learned, composed, independent, and more interested in knowledge than in court power or marriage alliances.That maps unusually well onto what your photos show:Quiet absorption in scripture (the Shiva Purana in the first picture)
A home library stacked with Itihasa and Purana
Traditional marks of a serious practitioner (bindi, tilak)
A calm, smiling presence rather than a martial or purely queenly one

Sulabha is not a warrior-queen like Draupadi or a political matriarch like Kunti. She is the woman who knows the texts and can speak from them.

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

My

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

@SaamaanyaJ @deepakmrd27 Actually his expression is more Dharmaraja!

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

@3011_ajit Trying to inspire BK to turn right I guess 🤣🤣

[Shivakumar GV INDICA @SaamaanyaJ]

It was truly an honor to deliver this Two-Day Workshop on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) at IRITM, Lucknow - jointly organized by NACIN Lucknow and IRITM.

First Principles, Relevance, Ethics, Governance, Leadership-Management, Financial Thought, Policy Lens, Strategy/Execution - thus we could cover a wide spectrum of IKS perspectives.

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Anchored on Mahabharata and Arthashastra the workshop was not a textual exposition. It was about how ideas, concepts, perspectives of IKS translate themselves into frameworks of good use for contemporary professional life - particularly one for governance.

The workshop was not limited to prescriptions/directives in various texts. We sought to represent as an an accessible body knowledge which governance practitioners could bring into their daily professional life.

In particular, we explored Purushartha, Yagna, and Chaturopaya in their many avatars - how when projected onto the plane of an institution they transform themselves into
- Architectural components
- Perspective building lens
- Operational instruments
- Meaningful outcome measurement devices.

The many sides of IKS Tattvas.

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The best part of any program is in the questions that arise during the workshop, and the discussion that ensues. The cohort of the workshop, consisting of senior officers from various CTIs/ATIs of Lucknow, elevated the workshop through their observant and boundary pushing questions. The delight of any facilitator is a participative cohort and meaningful questioning. We were delighted to have such a wonderful cohort.

Relevance, meaningfulness, appropriateness, technicality, practicality, scalability, feasibility - every framework presented was subjected these parameters before internalisation. The 'other side' of everything was explored. The final hands-on assignment was a test of these aspects which was applied to one Case Study related to Saama-Daana-Bheda-Danda.

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The workshop was jointly organized by NACIN, ZC Lucknow, and IRITM, Lucknow. Heartfelt thanks to Sushri. Krishna Tiwari ji, Prof-Admin IRITM Lucknow, and Sushri. Neha Lal ji, Additional Director - NACIN ZC Lucknow, for the leadership and initiative. I sincerely thank my co-facilitator Dr. Pinku Jha Dr. Pinku Jha, MSU Baroda for his support throughout.

Thanks to all my colleagues at INDICA and our Founder - Shri. Hari Vadlamani for enabling us to deliver this workshop.

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The defining characteristic of IKS is enquiry. The workshop started with an enquiry, ended with an enquiry. The enquiry itself does not end - that is the journey of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS). The flow of River Saraswati is eternal - at Lucknow it was River Gomti.

@dimplekaul_in @Sai_swaroopa @AparnaMSridhar @aurovinaya

[Arjun @arjuna_uvaacha]

Excited to read these two books soon, by the erudite mutuals @bhoomiputraa and @KushagraAniket sir 🫡. Very interesting at a glance.

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

Just like Vegetarianism vs Non vegetarianism....

I saw a debate rage on X about reading
fiction vs non fiction,
classic vs pulp,
trade fiction vs literary fiction,
self published vs traditionally published,
ebooks vs paperbacks vs hard backs,
genre blend vs true blue genres,
book stores vs online stores
The debate raged, diverged, converged, podcasts got announced whose bytes went viral.....

And then I woke up

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

🤣🤣🤣

[Uppittoo 3.0 @chauchaubhath]

#RHRN 😜

[INDICA @IndicaOrg]

Testimonial for Introduction to Yogasūtras Master Class with Smt Nrithya Jagannathan

Ms Heemaal Koul Dhar shares her experience at the recently concluded Master Class on Introduction to Yogasūtras. She was recommended the course by her colleague in order to get a overview of Indian Knowledge Systems.

Do participate in our upcoming Master Class on Dharmaśāstra by Shri Nithin Sridhar.

Register here: https://t.co/CmYFceGpLS

[INDICA @IndicaOrg]

Why We Need to Understand the Dharmaśāstras

How we read a text matters as much as what the text says.

Acharya Veeranarayana Pandurangi, one of the scholars felicitated by INDICA under #Grateful2Gurus 2026, offers a compelling example of why this matters.

In his scholarly examination of Indologist Patrick Olivelle’s interpretation of ancient Dharmaśāstra texts, Acharya Pandurangi challenges the claim that these texts viewed temples and image worship with suspicion or disdain.

Consider the often-cited prohibition against reciting the Vedas in a temple. Read in isolation, it may appear to suggest that temples were considered inappropriate or impure spaces. But Pandurangi points out that the rule concerns Vedic adhyayana—the formal study and teaching of the Vedas. A temple was simply not the prescribed setting for that particular activity.

The same principle applies more broadly. The Gṛhya Sūtras primarily deal with domestic rites. Their relative silence on temple procedures cannot therefore be interpreted as evidence of hostility towards temples. Likewise, references in texts such as the Viṣṇu Smṛti, along with evidence from the wider Sanskrit tradition, point to a much more complex and continuous history of sacred spaces and images.

The larger lesson is important.

When we approach the Dharmaśāstras without understanding their genre, purpose, vocabulary and context, we can easily turn a contextual prescription into a sweeping civilisational claim. We can mistake silence for absence, or a restriction concerning one activity for a rejection of an entire tradition.

This is why engaging deeply with the Dharmaśāstras is so important today. We need to develop the ability to read these texts on their own terms, rather than allowing inherited interpretive frameworks to determine what they mean.

🎥 Watch: Examining Patrick Olivelle’s Claims on Dharmashastras Opposing Temple Traditions | Acharya Veeranarayana Pandurangi - https://t.co/klokyBT8gj

It is also why our upcoming Master Class on Dharmaśāstra with Shri Nithin Sridhar is especially relevant. This two-day Master Class introduces participants to the foundations of Dharmaśāstra, the key ideas required to understand Dharma texts, their contemporary relevance, and the ways in which their principles can be applied and studied today.

Understanding these texts is not merely an exercise in studying the past. It is essential to developing a more informed understanding of Indian civilisation and its intellectual traditions.

To understand the śāstra, we must first learn how to read it.

Master Class on Dharmaśāstra with Shri Nithin Sridhar - 21–22 November, 2026

Learn more and apply: https://t.co/CmYFceGXBq

#DharmaShastra #IndicKnowledgeSystems #Grateful2Gurus #IndianKnowledgeTraditions #Sanskrit

@AcharyaVeeraNP2 @nkgrock

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

"When we want mood experiences, we go to concerts or museums. When we want meaningful emotional experience, we go to the storyteller."

- Robert McKee (Story)

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

@MonaADhar This is more of practice than knowledge.

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

@ArtistHaritha Naaku okati raase opika kooda undaledu 😄

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

Daughter wants two journals. One to show off to her friends that she writes journal and dge writes cool things etc.

And another one to write secret truths in life which she wont show others it seems.

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

Congratulations Taposhi.

It was a delight to go through the book as colours and illustrations were not only leading the story, but were playing a role in drawing out an artistic urge from the readers, compelling them to engage with art along with knowing the artist.

Congratulations again @vikramsampath and team for the wonderful initiative.

It was a joy to connect with the jury chair Dr. Shilpa Ranade and co jury member Suvidha Mistry in the process. Call it serendipity or whatever, our thoughts matched almost on every entry.

[FIHCR @fihcr_info]

🏆 FIHCR Annual History Prizes - India’s first and largest award recognising excellence in illustrations in historical writing for children

The Anant Pai Prize for Indian Historical Writing for Children - Illustrators Category celebrates the power of visual storytelling to bring India’s history alive for young readers, making the past engaging, accessible and memorable.

Winner: Taposhi Ghoshal
Book: Ram Kumar: Between the Lines | Publisher: @Art1stIndia
Award: ₹2 lakh cash prize, trophy & citation

Our congratulations and appreciation to the distinguished jury - @ranadeshilpa, @Sai_swaroopa and @suvidha007 - for their thoughtful deliberations and expertise.

Congratulations to Taposhi Ghoshal on winning this prestigious prize! 🎉

@nsitharamanoffc @nsitharaman @vikramsampath @foundation_ola

#FIHCR #AnnualHistoryPrizes #AnantPaiPrize #IndianHistory #HistoricalWriting #ChildrensLiterature #Illustration

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

Stop scrolling and go read that book.

(Yeah, me too just getting back to my edit stuff)

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

I read this when I was verg young.

Devi Bhagavatam and Brahmavaivarta Purana bring in the details about Ganga, Lakshmi and Sarasvati both being Shaktis of Vishnu. And Radha being incarnation of Ganga.

Could not parse this along with the rest of puranic knowledge base. Later, this Kalpa thing made sense.

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

If we take the Matsya Purana's mapping of Puranas by Kalpa, Brahma Vaivarta which mentions Radha belongs to a different Kalpa and not ours. But strictly following that mapping would mean even Bhagavatam isn't our Kalpa while Vishnu Purana is.

Casting one Devi against other is stupid anyways. I do keep hoping educated Hindus have reached a place where philosophical rumination should be a part of our engagement with Puranic ambiguities rather than refusing thrm to household drama.

[Satish Verma @satoverma]

Once again, I'm asking people to read a damn book before casting Radha against Rukmini and berating the former. As a Bengali Bhakti poet had written, she is literally the lotus. If one can't understand the complexities of theology, one should stay away from it.

[INDICA @IndicaOrg]

Grateful2Gurus 2026: Prof. Dr. Shiva Kumar Ojha

It was an honour for us at INDICA Bengaluru to felicitate Prof. Dr. Shiva Kumar Ojha at his residence yesterday, on Teachers’ Day.

The first picture brings together some of his many publications in Hindi, born out of his interactions and experiences with some of the great saints of Bharat. These writings belong to a period when, after a brief break from IIT Bombay - where he had published a pathbreaking work on Aeronautics - he turned his attention to documenting and sharing his encounters with our spiritual traditions.

At IIT Bombay, he also went on to teach a course on Hinduism, opening a window for young engineers into the civilisational values and knowledge traditions of Bharat.

During our conversation, Prof. Ojha spoke fondly of his childhood in Pratapgarh, where he studied until Class 10. He returned often to the richness of our bhashas, speaking particularly about Sanskrit intranslatables and the subtle meanings that are difficult to carry across languages.

His message was simple but profound: we must hold on dearly to our languages, for they carry ways of seeing and understanding the world that cannot always be translated.

As we celebrate Teachers’ Day, it was deeply meaningful to honour a teacher whose life has moved across science, education, literature and the living traditions of Bharat.

We are grateful to Prof. Ojha for his scholarship, his experiences, and above all, for continuing to share them with generations of students and seekers.

Grateful2Gurus.

#Grateful2Gurus #TeachersDay #INDICA #Guru #IndianKnowledgeSystems BharatiyaBhashas

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

@sri_battu30059 Revised Yati theory again and you are right.

Hoping to get my original attempt right

It started like
ఎందరు భూసురేశ్వరులు నెందరు పామరు లందరార్తులై

But fitting Magadha and Chanakya in the next two lines was uphill

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

Had promised to post the poorana today. But let me post the whole context.

Some years back when I was watching an ashtavadhana, I tried explaining to a friend, the exercise of Samasya Poorana.

Here, a prichchhaka presents a metrical line which has an absurd/offensive meaning++

[Saiswaroopa Iyer @Sai_swaroopa]

Partially solved this samasya late last night, years after it struck me. AI helped to sort the Yati which had me stuck for a long time.

Putting the Samasya here:

నందకుమారుదుర్మృతికి నందనచెందిరి యందరాభువిన్!